About

The Dreamland Chronicles Digital Trading Card Game

$37,703

pledged of $35,000 goal

303

backers

What inspires game industry veterans of Tomb Raider,Red Dead Redemption, Star Wars: Battlefront, Tony Hawk, and The Lost World: Jurassic Park to make the first ever mobile Collectible Card Game (CCG) for kids? Parenthood! (Hey, we did make Zoo Tycoon, Carmen Sandiego and Elmo’s Letter Adventure, too!)

Digital collectible card games skyrocketed in 2013, yet there’s no kids-focused mobile collectible card experience! All of the top digital CCGs skew to older players, and none focus on card collecting and trading as primary activities.

The Dreamland Chronicles redefines CCGs, transforming digital cards into “living” virtual toys. Kids share collections, trade and play with friends their way. Dreamland features memorable characters and a world that has captured the affection of younger audiences.

"I like the all-ages game experience Protobird Games is making. The Dreamland Chronicles updates the card collecting and games I enjoyed as a kid. I can't wait to play with my daughters and see how they enjoy it with their friends." - David Jaffe, founder, Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency and creative force behind God of War and Twisted Metal.

What is The Dreamland Chronicles?

The Dreamland Chronicles lets kids Collect, Trade and Play with friends their way, capturing the wonder and joy of physical card collecting in a convenient digital app, featuring stunning 3D animation and environments. Built for kids, easy to pick up and quickly play.

Who It’s For

Like Pokémon, the game combines family-friendly collecting and trading in an art style for 6-12 year olds.

Why It’s Different

Digital Cards as Virtual Toys - Don’t just look at your cards. Play with them! Cards are animated virtual toys that level up, coming to life and reacting when kids tap and swipe them.

What fun is building a great card collection or achieving incredible rewards if you can’t show them off to your friends? The Dreamland Chronicles presents a world to be shared, and the card collecting and gameplay experiences are inherently social activities.

Players can respond to trade or friend requests from a central hub or jump directly into Trading, viewing Player Profiles and the latest contenders from the Leaderboards, or chatting with friends in their Friends List.

Events: The Event Deck consists of shared cards that can be drawn and activated by either player. Events add elements of randomization that can help level the playing field for younger players.

Gameplay

Defeat your rivals in contests of might, magic and guile! Matches consist of a series of turns that alternate between players, until one hero is defeated by depletion of stamina points.

Play cards in a series of turns to:

Summon allies

Cast spells

Trigger events

Use items

Unleash Hero abilities

Command Allies to attack

Each player starts the game by playing their Hero card face up and drawing 5 cards from their deck. Normal play then commences. A typical turn consists of three actions, selected from the following options:

Draw a single card from their deck and put it into their hand, then play a card from hand

Draw and play an additional card

Use a Hero's Special abilities

Attack with Allies

Scry to trigger Events

Rest to restore Stamina

Actions in Detail

Each Hero has a core set of abilities plus a few unique ones. Players turns consist of using a series of these actions in the order of their choosing.

Example Hero Special Abilities:

Attack - Many have special weapons or powers for their own special attacks.

Boost – Some can boost their allies’ offensive or defensive capabilities.

Restore – Others can restore health to their allies.

Fly - Some can fly, allowing them to evade attacks for a turn.

Lift (and throw) heavy objects - Alexander and Paddington are known for this ability.

Stack the Deck - Certain heroes can stack the Event Deck by previewing the top three cards and determining the next triggered event.

Common Actions performed each turn:

Draw and Play - Draw a card from the deck to add it to your hand. Then play a card from hand. This happens at the start of each turn and can optionally be done a second time each turn.

Attack – Command allies in play to attack rival Heroes.

Scry - Reveal the top card(s) of the Event deck and cause one to occur.

Each Hero starts the game with a set amount of Stamina, which is depleted through the playing of cards, use of certain abilities, and by the attacks of the rival Hero’s forces. It is refreshed by certain spells and abilities. When one Hero runs out of Stamina, the opponent wins!

Scott Hyman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), has made video games for 20 years. Most recently, he oversaw studio development at Creat Studios and MocoSpace, launching lots of mobile and PlayStation Network titles. Before that, he managed production for dozens of mobile titles as a Producer for Vivendi Games and JAMDAT (which is now EA Mobile). Scott began his career as a character animator, creating and animating characters for Pandemic Studios, DreamWorks Interactive, and Activision for high-profile games based on Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Sesame Street, Tony Hawk and more. He lives with his wife and two sons outside Boston, splitting his time between creating games with his 7-year-old and rooting for all four local sports teams.

Parker A. Davis, President/COO and Executive Producer, is a veteran video and computer game producer with a background in game design and a career spanning over 20 years. His expertise leading creative teams and organizing complex productions helped deliver high quality games for top industry publishers like Square-Enix, Ubisoft, Rockstar, Bethesda, Activision, Mattel, Electronic Arts and Virgin Interactive. His proud achievements include Walt Disney's The Jungle Book (Best of WCES 1994), Activision’s Call to Power II (E3 Best of Show 2000), Star Trek: Legacy (Best of E3 2006) and Star Trek: Bridge Commander (E3 Top 20 2001). Parker recently served as Senior Producer on the AAA blockbuster hits Red Dead Redemption (2010 Game of the Year) and Tomb Raider (IGN Best in Show E3 2012). Parker lives in southern New Hampshire with his lovely wife, two baby boys and Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Chris “Sage” Granger, Consulting Chief Technical Officer (CTO), is a polymath and game industry pioneer with over 25 years experience leading successful development efforts. His wide interdisciplinary expertise includes engineering and computational science, and his professional experience spans some of the world's most respected organizations, including NASA, DreamWorks, Crystal Dynamics, Capcom, Symantec, and others. Sage has shipped multiple products on both PCs and consoles, and is an active U.S. patent holder with numerous pending patents. He currently serves as a consulting CTO for organizations across several industries.

Keith Carpentier, Design Director, is a veteran product-focused game designer with special expertise in game economies and monetization. Keith produced free-to-play cross-platform social games for MocoSpace after designing for the Zoo Tycoon series. A life-long aficionado of collectible card games, Keith turned this passion into an entrepreneurial endeavor in 2012 when he became co-owner of Boston’s JP Comics & Games, where he coordinates weekly Magic: the Gathering events. He lives with his wife and cat in Boston MA, where he stays busy by juggling building games, running a small a comic and game shop, and having a '9-5'. He does not sleep.

Andrew Probasco, Game Designer, has experienced game development from all sides - as a tester, designer, developer, and professional game player when he played on the Magic: the Gathering Pro Tour, and was a finalist in the first Wizards of the Coast "Great Designer Search." Andy worked on the game Zoo Kingdom and designed the social games The Oregon Trail and Where In The World is Carmen Sandiego? for Blue Fang Games.

Emma Clarkson, Product & Community Manager, has worked in marketing and community management on a variety of game platforms. As Marketing Manager for Metaversal Studios, she devised and managed the promotional strategy for a range of iPhone, iPad, Android, and Facebook games. Recently, as Community Manager for Stomp Games, she helped develop the player community and contributed to marketing management for the Facebook game Robot Rising. Emma is a lifelong gamer with a passion for games of many genres on consoles and PC.

Khadeja Merenkov, Social Media Manager, is a devoted gamer with a love for writing and social media. She has been working at Defective Studios as a wearer-of-many-hats; mostly within the social media and community management sphere. She is also a voice actor, and can be heard in Reactive Studios' Codename Cygnus as well as Lantana Games' Children of Liberty.

Blue Dream Studios- Story and Art Development - Originally created as a “Work for Hire” studio in 2000, Blue Dream Studios evolved into an award-winning original content publisher, owning over 20 critically acclaimed titles in our ever-growing library. Our virtual studio continues to grow with over 300 artists, programmers, animators, and technicians worldwide, working with us to produce mobile games, feature films, animated series, and graphic novels based on popular licenses such as Spider-Man, Star Wars, and Power Rangers as well as our own beloved line of books and toys. This dynamic allows us to both grow the studio’s reputation through big budget films and properties while also empowering us to continue to build our own valuable library of Intellectual Properties.

Apocoplay - Production and Engineering - Apocoplay is a Boston-based video gaming start-up that is marrying a true passion for board and card games with deep software engineering experience to create digital products in the rapidly expanding mobile and browser-based markets. The company, which owns and operates popular CCG Alteil in the United States, is currently using its proprietary platform to createAlteil: Horizons, a sequel that features advanced strategic elements and work from artists behind some of the world’s most popular anime franchises, comic books and webcomics.

Privo - Online Child Protection- Founded in 2001, Privacy Vaults Online, Inc., (PRIVO), is a FTC-approved, neutral third-party Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Safe Harbor and identity & consent service provider. PRIVO enables websites, apps, games and other online services to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) when they interact with and market to children online under the age of 13 (“U13″). PRIVO’s core business is to deliver easy to use, safe management of parental consent for children. This core service enables companies with the knowledge, resources and tools necessary to initiate and manage responsible and effective youth and parent relationships online. PRIVO is a women-owned small business located in Northern Virginia.

Platforms

The Dreamland Chronicles is being developed initially for iPad. Launching on Android tablets is Stretch Goal #1. We plan to bring it to every high-definition platform. Tell us where else you would want to play!

Upcoming Features

These concepts are in the planning stage, so we don’t expect them to be available at launch. Please let us know what else you would like!

Multi-Screen - View your hand and play from on your tablet while watching the battle on your HDTV or monitor.

Character Customization - You design the colors, weapons, clothes, armor, hair, face of your characters. Make them your own

We’ve self-funded the development of The Dreamland Chronicles since late 2012; it’s been a labor of love that has carried us pretty far. We focused on making a great game. We fleshed out our designs, we play tested the game rules (yes, it’s fully playable with decks of paper cards!), and then established the look and feel of the game in an initial playable version.

All this work and preparation has our team ready to complete production for the game, and we need your help to do it right! We’re extremely passionate about Dreamland and the opportunity to bring a premium CCG experience to younger players on mobile. There is still so much yet to be done, and our ambitions for the game exceed our present resources.

This experience is all about building a fun and safe community, and what better place to start than with Kickstarter? Longtime fans of The Dreamland Chronicles have supported Scott Sava here, and backed four Kickstarter campaigns to fund graphic novel publishing costs.

We’re building an extended team that includes fans, players, parents and backers like you! We need your support and want your input, feedback and ideas about everything! Don’t hold back… we’re listening!

Risks and challenges

First, we see the project’s scope as the greatest risk. While other apps share similar concepts, nothing like The Dreamland Chronicles exists on mobile. We’re blazing our own trail, which brings its share of unexpected challenges. However, we have the utmost confidence in our vision and a we've built a highly experienced team that can work through every obstacle.

Next, there is risk involved in any start-up where not everyone has worked (or shipped games) together in the past. We’re augmented our small team with outside partners and contractors, some far away and not all in the same time zones. But our team has a lot of experience managing cross-studio projects and remote teams, so we’re up for it!

Finally, and most importantly, every team member is aware that we’re adapting a story and set of characters beloved by kids around the world. The Dreamland Chronicles will only make the successful journey into video games if we hold true to Scott Christian Sava’s vision and provide the same excitement and wonder that he’s gifted us with for eight years. We’re honored that he’s entrusted us to do so, and we’ll do everything possible to not let him or his faithful readers down.

Support

Select this reward

Pledge $5 or more
About $5

ASTORIA: You’ll receive our most sincere thanks, free early pre-launch Beta test access to the game with 1 Hero starter pack, and a Kickstarter exclusive Profile Badge, a listing in the game’s production credits, and a copy of the first Dreamland Chronicles Graphic Novel PDF delivered digitally in 24 hours.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $75 or more
About $75

KIWI: (Limited Special!) Receive the sketch cards and all digital cards from the NASTAJIA level + a Dreamland Chronicles character figurine (Choose from 1 of 3), 2 printed Dreamland Chronicles graphic novel (Choose from Books 1-7), a 4th Hero starter pack, 3 more Kickstarter exclusive Legendary cards (for a total of 4), 2 more Kickstarter exclusive Epic cards (for a total of 4), $30 of in-game store credit when the game goes live ($50 total), and you can start a career in the video game industry with a Production Assistant credit on the game!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $79 or more
About $79

PADDINGTON: Receive the sketch cards and all digital cards from the NASTAJIA level + a Dreamland Chronicles character figurine (Choose 1 of 3), a printed Dreamland Chronicles graphic novel (Choose 1 of 7), a 3rd Kickstarter exclusive Legendary level Hero card, a 3rd Kickstarter exclusive Epic level Hero card, an extra $20 of in-game store credit when the game goes live ($40 total), and a Production Assistant credit on the game

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $125 or more
About $125

ORION THE TEACHER: Receive everything in the above PADDINGTON level + a 2nd Dreamland Chronicles character figurine (Choose 2 of 3), a 2 more printed Dreamland Chronicles graphic novels (Choose 3 from Books 1-7), an additional $10 of in-game store credit when the full game goes live ($50 total), and two additional sets of all the Paddington level’s digital cards to give to two of your friends!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $250 or more
About $250

NICOLE: (Limited Special 30 of 30) - Receive everything in the above PADDINGTON level + a 2nd Dreamland Chronicles character figurine (Choose 2 of 3), a 2 more printed Dreamland Chronicles graphic novels (Choose 3 from Books 1-7), an additional $10 of in-game store credit when the full game goes live ($50 total), and two additional sets of all the Paddington level’s digital cards to give to two of your friends!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $250 or more
About $250

FELICITY: Receive everything in the above ATLANTIS level + 2 more printed Dreamland Chronicles graphic novels (Choose 5 from Books 1-7), the other Dreamland Chronicles character figurine (Yes, that’s all 3!), 2 more Kickstarter exclusive Legendary level Hero cards (That’s 4 total per set for all 3 sets you’ll receive.), and an Assistant Producer credit in the final release of the game!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

NERISSA: Receive everything in the above FELICITY level + 2 more printed Dreamland Chronicles graphic novels (All 7 books!) an original Scott Sava Dreamland character sketch, Associate Producer credit, and you can choose the names of two characters on fully distributed cards to be made available in the game!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,000 or more
About $1,000

OBERON: Receive everything in the above NERISSA level + an original Scott Sava Dreamland character painting, a Co-Producer credit, and trading card game lessons from Dreamland designer and former Magic: the Gathering professional player Andy Probasco.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $2,500 or more
About $2,500

KING ARTHUR: Receive everything in the above OBERON level + a full Producer credit and a fully distributed character card to be made available in the game and modeled after your own likeness with the name of your choice based on your own character ideas.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $5,000 or more
About $5,000

MERLIN: Receive everything in the above KING ARTHUR level + come to the wonderful city of Boston, MA, spend a full day with the Protobird Games team (and possibly a bunch of others in Boston’s thriving Indie Video Games scene) to work with us to fully plan, sketch and design a brand-new character and fully distributed card of your choosing and your own likeness, plus full Senior Producer credit in the game. (Travel accommodations to and from Boston area at your own expense)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $10,000
About $10,000

NICODEMUS: Receive everything in the above MERLIN level + full, prominently displayed Executive Producer credit on the final release of the game, and a personal visit from Nicodemus the Dragon himself to battle over which of you shall be sovereign ruler over all of Dreamland! (Subject to limits of your ability to dream and imagine.) If there’s anything else you would like for such generosity, contact us directly and we’ll be happy to work it out with you.